274 STATE BOAED OF AGKICULTUEE. 



SHEEP HUSBANDEY. 



Eutei'fcaining, as I do, a high regard for the educational interest of all classes 

 of society, I am especially gratified with any and all efforts that tend to en- 

 lighten the practical farmer. I am glad to meet you at this time and to be 

 jorivileged with speaking for a few moments upon a subject of considerable im- 

 jjortance to the farmers of this locality, namely, sheep husbandry. Sheep have 

 justly held a noted place in the estimation of shepherds and flock-masters in 

 all ages of the world ; but my purpose on this occasion is to speak in relation to 

 the kinds with which we are most familiar, and to draw a few inferences with 

 regard to their origin and introduction into this country ; the treatment and 

 care they should receive at our hands ; their general usefulness ; tlieir value as 

 compared with other stock, and the kinds best adapted for the farmers of this 

 locality. 



Various breeds of sheep must have been brought to this country by our an- 

 cestors in the settlement of this continent, which have been promiscuously 

 mixed together, and are now distinguished from the later importations of im- 

 proved varieties as natives. Tliese sheep were usually kept in small fl:ocks, 

 requiring but little care except folding them at night to protect them from the 

 ravages of wild beasts. Within the last half -century, and more particularly 

 within the last twenty -five years, they have been more or less mixed with others 

 of purer blood, thereby producing what are familiarly known as grades. With 

 these crosses the native sheep of the country have been much improved in form 

 and wool-producing qualities, increasing their fleeces from an average weight of 

 two and one-half or three pounds to an average of fi^'^ or six pounds. 



It was from the wool of these native sheep that our grandmothers and moth- 

 ers spun and wove the cloth for the family clothing. Many people of the 

 jsresent day can distinctly recollect the manner in which this work was carried 

 on. The buzz of the spinning-wheel and the clanking of the old hand-loom 

 have made many lasting impressions. 



From time immemorial sheep have been bred in Spain, and from that coun- 

 try have gone out originally the different families of fine avooIs under the names 

 of Saxon, French, and Spanish merinos. Over a century ago quite a flock of 

 merinos Avere taken from Sjiain into Saxony. They were regularly housed and 

 fed, and from continued pampering in tlie course of time became small in size, 

 feeble in constitution, and very tender, yielding only a small quantity of M'ool, 

 but of an uncommonly high order. They Avere introduced into the United 

 States about fifty years ago, and quite a number of flock-masters took hold of 

 the business of raising these little fine sheep, Avith the expectation that they 

 Avould be amply rcAvarded from the high price of their avooI ; but it Avas pro- 

 duced only Avitli too much labor and in quantities too small to render the 

 business remuneratiA'C, especially Avhen put in competition Avith avooIs from 

 other sheep of an im|Drovecl character, and that produced fleeces nearly double 

 in weight and of a fair quality. Tlie Saxons gave Avay under these circum- 

 stances, and are now pretty generally discarded in this country. The French 

 merinoes also had their origin in Spain, and AA^ere taken to France nearly a 

 hundred years ago, Avhere they were bred by the French gOA'crnment Avith great 

 care. The original flock Avas made up from some of the choicest sheep of the dif- 

 ferent families of Spain ; they were very dissimilar at first, but by uniting their 

 individual differences, and being bred for a s^iecial purpose for a long period of 

 time, a ncAV family of merinos Avas produced, and distinguished as the Frencli. 

 They AA^re imported into the United States by D. C. Collins, of Hartford, 



